A report from the New York Post last week said that Barneys, too, was planning to downsize its flagship store on Madison Avenue. A spokesperson for the brand denied the report to Business Insider, however.

The flagship store as we know it is changing. Experts say that large flagship stores that do not offer exciting and engaging experiences are no longer effective marketing tools for brands.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include a statement from Barneys New York, which said that a New York Post report that it was downsizing its Madison Avenue flagship was "false."

Gap, Lord & Taylor, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren have taken decisive action to cut expensive flagship stores in recent months — signaling a shift in how flagships are being used by brands.

Traditionally, the flagship store has been a way to promote a brand's image and tell its story, more about marketing and branding rather than sales.

But increasingly the flagship has become a less relevant — yet still costly — marketing tool due to changes in consumer shopping habits.

"New generations of consumers do a lot of product discovery online or via social media. This means expensive flagships are less relevant than they once were," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, wrote in an email to Business Insider in February.

"A brand like Gap has no real business having a flagship as it is just a large version of mundanity that doesn't really pay for itself," he said.

Flagship stores that are simply larger versions of standard stores are unlikely to have a place in the future of retail.

"It only makes sense if you create an experience," Corey Pierson, CEO and founder of Custora, a customer analytics platform for the retail industry, told Business Insider last month.

Pierson said flagship stores need something extra to make it relevant, "a different or unique experience that strikes a chord."

Last week the New York Post reported that Barneys New York was downsizing its Madison Avenue flagship store. However, a spokesperson for Barneys told Business Insider that the report was "false."

"Barneys New York is committed to maintaining the footprint of its Madison Avenue flagship, and continuing to serve its customers within this iconic store. There are no active conversations regarding the store's footprint, and all statements indicating otherwise are false," the spokesperson said.

Things are changing

Digitally native retailers such as Bonobos, Glossier, Everlane, and Casper are paving the way with innovative new store concepts. These brands have the luxury of making a fresh entrance into brick-and-mortar retail and are able to trial new concepts. Given that their flagship may be their only store in a city, these retailers can focus on putting their best foot forward here — exactly what a flagship should do.

Innovation hasn't been reserved to smaller digital brands, however. Longtime industry players such as Nike and Nordstrom are also figuring out how to make their flagship stores relevant and appealing.

At the time of the men's store's opening, late Nordstrom co-president Blake Nordstrom told Business Insider that the company had been scouting out a location in Manhattan for the past 20 years; it was by no means a spontaneous decision. And, despite the industry pressures currently facing department stores, the company still saw value in opening a location in a prime area of Manhattan.

Nike also opened a massive new flagship store in New York at the end of 2018. Housed in a sprawling, 68,000-square-foot space that spans six floors, this store has the largest collection of Nike shoes for sale in the world and highly innovative technology that offers in-store experiences like instant purchases for app users.